Adjustable tracking device



C. L. EMMONS.

ADJUSTABLE TRACKING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 2|, 1917.

,330,065 Patented Feb. 10, 1920.

Fig: 2.

uman STATES Pas eur-union.

enemies L. EMMons, or cesarean, New messy, ASSIGNOB To THE AEOLIANG01VPANY,.A conrcae'rion or oonnnoricn'r.

ADJUSTABLE rnnonme nnvion.

To all whom it may concern :Be it known that I,OEARLES L. EMMONS, acitizenofthe United States, and a resident of Cran'ford, county ofUnion, and

Stateof New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAdjustable Tracking Devices, of which the following is a specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming aJpart thereof.l i

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in automatictracking devices for 'mechanicalplayers for musical instr'u merits, andits object is to provide a simple and effective adjusting devicetherefore I will describe in the following specification the presentinvention, and wille'point out the novel features thereof in appendedclaims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure l is a front, elevation of a part of a player piano orthe likewitha mechamy invention applied Inent, is unwound from the music rollspool 11 onto a motor-driven take-up spool 12, over a perforated trackerbar 13 on the front of a casing 145. During this operation it isnecessary to have the music sheet 1n*such v a position.-transversely inrespect of the stationary tracker bar that the note :perforatlons theremare :in' accurate registering allnement with their respective ductsin'the trackeribar. 2T0 this end means :are provided for automaticallyshifting the music roll spool. 11 longitudinally, which I will nowdescribe.

20 is a frame to which the tracker bar casing is affixed and in whichthe bearings for the music roll spool and the take-up spool clutches aremounted. 21 is a longitudinally movable rod forthe music roll clutch 22.

This is pressed to the right by means of a spring 23.

' the music' roll 10 to theleft;

Specification of iietters P tent, Patgnted Feb, 10, 1920,

Application filedikpril21f1917. serial No. 163,639.

24 is a similar movable rod for the music :roll spool clutch 25 whichisfpressed-to the deft by a lever 26 which is pivotally supported atE27.

30 is a pneumatic which is connected with the suctlon bellows of theinstrument by a tube 31 so that during the operation of'the instrumentthispneumatic has a tendencylto collapse. A red 32 is connected from themovable side of the pneumatic to the lever so that when this pneumaticcollapses, the rod 24; and the music roll spool 11 are moved to the leftthereby against the action of the spring 23.

33 is a flexible tube from the pneumatic to a tube-34, 'theend of-whichconstitutes Thls ls supported in a movable inemberAO m'the tracker barcasing at one a port. I

end thereof. ll is a. valve on lever 42,

pivoted at 4 3 to the memberfeO andspringpressed against the port ormouth of the tube 3a. The end of lever to forms a finger n which passesthrough-an openingp45 in thetracker bar at the edge of the "music Sheet.v r

. From the foregoing description it may be seen that if the position ofthe music roll is ,too far to the right, its left hand edge will nottouch "the finger 44-. Under these conditions the valvell will be'olosedand the pneumatic 30' will collapse and will thereby shift the music.roll spool 11 and If the music roll is too far to the left its edgewill press against: finger 44 and lift valve ll from the valve seat.This will allow air to pass through tube 33 into the pneumatic'SO, thusneutralizing the vacuum therein which has caused the pneumatic tocollapse so that the, pneumatic will return to'its expandedconditiom-that shown in F1g.]1,'to remove thewpr essure of lever 26 fromrodQe and this allows spring 23150 shift rod 21,'themusic roll spool 11and the music sheet 10 to the right.

The parts are so proportioned and adjusted that the music roll spool 11floats longitudinally between the end pressure of the spring 23 and thatproduced by the collapsing tendency of the pneumatic with the musicsheet malntalned in tracking position.

Thls operatlon 1s a matter of delicate proits other functions.

portioning and arrangements of parts. In fact, it is easily disturbed bythe swelling or shrinkage of the paper of the music sheet. To make suchan apparatus more reliable and useful, I propose to provide a convenientmanual adjustment for the part of such an apparatus. which cooperateswith the music sheet. which I have chosen to illustrate my invention,the ported member i0 is mounted on a spring 50 which has a tendency tomove the member 4-0 and its valve together with the finger at to theleft. he extent of this movement to the left is limitedby a nut 51between the frame 20 and the adjacent side of the ported member. The nutis mounted on an adjusting screw 5:2 which has a knurled head'53, theupper edge of which projects through the casing 14: directly back oftracker bar 13. The edge 54. of member -10 which abuts against nut 51 isinclined so that when nut 51 is moved outward, valve box id and fing r't'r are moved to the left, and when nut 51 is moved back, these partsare moved to the right.

7 Thus, by this device a ready and accurate adjustment of the trackingdevice may be obtained. It is obvious that this ad ustment -may be "madewhile the instrument is in operation without interfering'with any of Ido not intend to limit myself to any specific form'or construction ofparts and in fact intend only such limitations as are imposed in theappended claims.

What I' claim isz' I lpln'an automatic tracking device, a tracker bar,longitudinally movable supports for a music roll spool, a springarranged to move said supports in one direction, a pneumatic arranged tomove said supports in theopposite direction, a movable ported member atone side of the tracker bar, a valve therefor near said tracker bar, .avalve lever pivotally sup ported by said member, said lever comprising afinger adapted to be at the edge of the music sheet as it passes overthe tracker bar to cooperate with the edge of the music sheet to controlthe pneumatic, a spring supporting said movable member and tending tomove said member in one direction,

7 and an adjusting screw manually operable during the movement of themusic sheet over the tracker bar arranged to limit thespring-impressedmovement of said member,

In the form of mechanism and to determine the position of said memberand the finger in relation to the tracker bar.

2. In an automatic tracking device, a tracker bar casing, a tracker bar,longitudinally movable supports for a music roll spool, a springarranged to move said supports in one direction, a pneumatic arranged tomove said supports in the opposite direction, a movable ported memberinthe tracker bar casing, a valve therefor near said tracker bar, avalve lever pivotally supported by said member, saidlever compri ing afinger projecting through the tracker bar and adapted to be at the edgeof the music sheet as it passes over the tracker bar to cooperate withthe edge of the music sheet to control'the pneumatic, a springsupportingsaid movable member and tending to move said member in onedirection, and a manually operable adjusting screw having a knurled headprojecting above the tracker bar casing near one end of the tracker bar,arranged to limit the" spring-impressed movement of said member, and todetermine the position of said member. and the finger in relation to thetracker bar.

3. In an automatic tracking device, a tracker bar casing, a tracker bar,longitudinally movable supports for a music roll spool, a springarranged to move said supports in one direction, a pneumatic arranged tomove said supports in the opposite direcbar, a valve lever pivotallysupported by said member, said lever comprising a finger projectingthrough the tracker bar and. adapted to be at the edge of; the musicsheet as it passes over the tracker bar to cooperate with the edge ofthe music sheet to control the pneumatic, a spring supporting saidmovable member and'tending to move said member -in one direction, and amanually operable adjusting screw having a knurled head projecting abovethe tracker bar casing near one end of the tracker bar, a nut movable onsaid adjusting screw, the adjacent side of the ported movable memberbeing inclinedan'd arranged to bepressed against said nut by thesupporting spring whereby the spring-impressed movement of the portedmember and the valve finger is determined.

In-Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 19 day of April.1917.

e CHARLES L. EMMONS.

